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How US students get a university degree for free in Germany

bbc.co.uk

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Re: How US students get a university degree for free in Germany

#51

Post by aswanson »

keyboard_jedi wrote: post #49

Why in the world did I go to college in the US?? I hate that the US education system is so capitalistic and not out to provide for the citizens of this country! Wish I would've included colleges outside the US in my college making decision..

I made the same mistake, it's not your fault. If you graduated in the pre-www era, as I did, the options presented to you as a 17 year old kid were probably very limited; it's almost as if we don't acknowledge universities exist outside the U.S. in the typical middle-class education-option experience. Very narrow world view.

Re: How US students get a university degree for free in Germany

#53

Post by jguegant »

French here, the tuitions are close to 0 in Finland and France too (granted that you learn French). Our parents pay up to 50% (I don't have the exact percentage) of various taxes based on their salaries and daily life goods, and we as children will do the same. It makes sense that our government rewards us in some way: health care for free, school for free, retirement... In Europe, the government avoids you to shoot yourself by managing part of your money for the well being of the society. In return, we may look less rich by looking at our bank balance. If you take a 3500 $ Swedish salary with all the taxes applied, your life level might be equivalent as a 7000 $ salary in US.

Beware not to overuse this trick. In the past many other European countries were accessible for virtually free. Until an army of Chineses came, studied for free for 5 years and went back to their hometown without any contribution to the society (taxes, intellectual contributions...). That's why Sweden granted recently the free access to only Europe citizens that anyway pay common taxes in their own country.

Re: How US students get a university degree for free in Germany

#54

Post by sirlantis »

SEJeff wrote: post #36
MrTonyD wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The article ended with the students saying that they planned to stay in Germany - they didn't want to go back to a country like the US where their children might be bankrupted paying for their education.

FWIW, I dated a German exchange student in highschool (in the US). When asked why she came to the US, she said her dad sent all of her siblings to the US to take driver's ed and get their US license as it was valid in Germany. Apparently it is many thousands of dollars^Weuros to get all of the necessary requirements completed to get a German drivers license. I didn't mean to come off quite like I originally phrased t…

A driver's license in Germany costs 1400+ euros, covering a minimum of 12*90min learning, 12h driving, a written test, and a driving test. If you fail the tests you have to take more hours. Bad drivers pay 3000+ euros until they pass.

Re: How US students get a university degree for free in Germany

#55

Post by tracker1 »

keyboard_jedi wrote: post #49

Why in the world did I go to college in the US?? I hate that the US education system is so capitalistic and not out to provide for the citizens of this country! Wish I would've included colleges outside the US in my college making decision..

I think that a lot of the legal changes to student loan funding from the 90's are really showing their ugly heads today. They are exempt from a lot of protections other forms of debt offer. Not to mention the effect of widely available loans (and insurance for that matter) have on an industry's pricing structures. It allows for whole new paths of corruption, overcharging and overspending.

That's not to say every school operates like the University of Phoenix and the like... a lot of community colleges offer good education, while not being overtly expensive. Some universities and state colleges are a bit of a mix, and a lot of funding comes from various sources which bleed into expectations, costs and funding. That doesn't even go into scholarship programs and grants.

While I agree with the tenant that everyone should have access to higher education, I'm pretty sure that our approach should have been better.

Re: How US students get a university degree for free in Germany

#56

Post by GuiA »

jguegant wrote: post #53

French here, the tuitions are close to 0 in Finland and France too (granted that you learn French). Our parents pay up to 50% (I don't have the exact percentage) of various taxes based on their salaries and daily life goods, and we as children will do the same. It makes sense that our government rewards us in some way: health care for free, school for free, retirement... In Europe, the government avoids you to shoot…

And then you have all the French engineers currently moving to Silicon Valley because a $1XXk salary working for a world known tech company is more interesting than 30k € working for an SSII where you'll have a chain of 10 MBAs above you, or applying to companies that won't even look at your resume unless your degree is certified by the CTI, even if you're probably a better engineer than 90% of their employees.

Well, that's what I did anyway. Part of me wishes I could have the career fulfillment I currently have back in France, to give back to the system that made me (l'École de la République, what a beautiful dream!), but sadly that's not possible. Oh well, that's what the UK expats are for, right?

Re: How US students get a university degree for free in Germany

#58

Post by jalayir »

jguegant wrote: post #53

French here, the tuitions are close to 0 in Finland and France too (granted that you learn French). Our parents pay up to 50% (I don't have the exact percentage) of various taxes based on their salaries and daily life goods, and we as children will do the same. It makes sense that our government rewards us in some way: health care for free, school for free, retirement... In Europe, the government avoids you to shoot…

If you want the Chinese to stay, you also need to have a suitable work/entrepreneurship visa policy.

Re: How US students get a university degree for free in Germany

#59

Post by sampo »

SEJeff wrote: post #36
MrTonyD wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The article ended with the students saying that they planned to stay in Germany - they didn't want to go back to a country like the US where their children might be bankrupted paying for their education.

FWIW, I dated a German exchange student in highschool (in the US). When asked why she came to the US, she said her dad sent all of her siblings to the US to take driver's ed and get their US license as it was valid in Germany. Apparently it is many thousands of dollars^Weuros to get all of the necessary requirements completed to get a German drivers license. I didn't mean to come off quite like I originally phrased t…

In Finland, approx. 2500€ for a drivers licence in a driving school, includes approx. 25 lectures (a 45 min), 25 one-on-one driving sessions (a 45 min) with a teacher, and some practice of slippery conditions on a special track. The school also provides the car.

Re: How US students get a university degree for free in Germany

#60

Post by adventured »

the_watcher wrote: post #57

I work with someone who got a graduate degree in Germany. She simply can't believe anyone goes to college in the US without massive scholarships. From the student's perspective, I've come to agree.

Median household student loan debt - for those households carrying any student loan debt - is ~$13,000. That is not crushing. And keep in mind, that's for the whole household unit, the median student loan tally is even lower for individuals.

The median monthly household payment is $160, and the median ratio of income to payment is 4%.

The US has among the highest median incomes and median disposable incomes of any countries.

It's obnoxious that the cost of college has soared so much in the last 15 years, there's no question about that. However, it is still very possible to get a high quality and fair priced education in the US.

Those popular media stories about people carrying $80,000 in student loans? That's in fact talking about a small fraction of all student loan situations.

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